-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- The captain of a Greenpeace icebreaker carrying 30 activists protesting Arctic drilling has declined a demand made at gunpoint by Russian authorities to sail it toward the Russian port city of Murmansk , a Greenpeace spokeswoman said Friday .

`` Captain Pete has refused to sail the ship , so they 're towing it , '' Molly Dorozenski told CNN in a reference to Pete Willcox , captain of the Arctic Sunrise . Late Thursday , about 15 members of the Russian coast guard seized the ship and those aboard by sliding down a rope hanging from a hovering helicopter .

The guards , armed with handguns and rifles , took the activists to the ship 's canteen and broke down the door to the communications room , smashing the equipment , said Ben Stewart , head of media for the group . The captives were told they were going to be taken to Murmansk , in northwest Russia , he said .

The group documented the incident in tweets :

`` Russian authorities onboard with guns , '' said one . `` They are breaking into the comms room now . ''

Another one said this : `` Latest from the deck : Crew are sitting on their knees on the helipad with guns pointed at them . ''

And yet another : `` This is pretty terrifying . Loud banging . Screaming in Russian . They 're still trying to kick in the door . ''

More than 12 hours later , Greenpeace International reported that its communication with those aboard the ship had been cut off .

But it also reported that some activists were able to conduct interviews by satellite phone from the ship 's mess , where they were being held .

`` Greenpeace International has not received any formal confirmation of possible charges , and the activists have been denied access to legal or consular assistance , '' it said in a statement . `` Over 20 Greenpeace offices are organizing protests at Russian embassies around the world today . ''

`` They have done nothing to warrant this level of aggression and have been entirely peaceful throughout , '' said Ben Ayliffe , the head of Greenpeace International 's Arctic oil campaign .

`` The real threat to the Russian Arctic comes not from the crew of the Arctic Sunrise but from Gazprom , one of the most reckless oil companies in the world today , '' he said .

Willcox , who grew up in South Norwalk , Connecticut , is the son of a yachtsman and has been a skipper for Greenpeace since 1981 , according to a posting on the Greenpeace website .

He was at the helm of the group 's Rainbow Warrior in 1985 , when it was bombed , Dorozenski said . `` So , he 's been around the block a few times . ''

A media officer with the border patrol in Murmansk said that none of the activists was under arrest and that the ship was being escorted to Murmansk , where crew members will be questioned about the possibility that they broke the law related to exclusive economic zones .

The Dutch have demanded that those aboard , including two Dutch nationals , be released immediately , said Friso Wijnen , a spokesman for consular affairs with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs . Dutch officials were in contact with Russian Embassy staff in Holland , and their own embassy staffers in Moscow were in contact with Russian officials , he said .

The other detainees are from Argentina , Australia , Brazil , Canada , Denmark , the United States , Britain , New Zealand , Ukraine , Russia , France , Italy , Turkey , Finland , Switzerland , Poland and Sweden , the group said .

The ship was sailing under the Dutch flag , RIA Novosti said .

The state-run Russian news agency said that Moscow had announced it gave a note to the Dutch ambassador expressing concern about a protest Wednesday in which the activists scaled an oil rig operated by a Gazprom subsidiary to call attention to its drilling plans .

`` Gazprom is using out of date kit to drill in one of the most extreme environments on the planet , '' the group said in a tweet on September 17 . `` We ca n't let that happen . ''

Russian border guards fired warning shots at the environmentalists ' ship and detained two activists -- Finnish and Swiss nationals -- but returned them during Thursday 's standoff , RIA Novosti said .

No official comment from the guards was available , it added .

`` The violators ' actions were of an aggressive and provocative nature and had the appearance of extremist activity capable of causing human deaths and other grave consequences , '' Russia 's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on its website , according to RIA Novosti .

CNN 's Ross Levitt , Saskya Vandoorne and Alla Eshchenko contributed to this report .

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NEW : Captain Pete wo n't sail , so Russians tow the Arctic Sunrise

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Thursday 's incident occurred in international waters , a Greenpeace spokesman says

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`` They 're still trying to kick in the door , '' says a Greenpeace tweet that documented the incident

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The group is protesting oil drilling in the Arctic